Stop Reading Into Tropical Storms Don And Hilary

Meteorologists are currently tracking a pair of weather systems, a tropical storm named Don that appears to be on its way out, and an emerging system that will be dubbed Hilary should it continue to gain strength. While the names given to these storms might seem deliberate, they're actually the product of a naming convention that dates back to 1953.

Oh, such hilarity. But the names Don and Hilary (yes, with one "l") are a sheer coincidence, albeit a rather timely one.

Decades ago, before the US National Weather Service came up with its naming protocol, tropical storms were tracked by year and the order in which they appeared. Unfortunately, this would create confusion when multiple storms appeared in the same ocean at the same time. All too often, broadcasts on the radio warned of incoming storms that were located hundreds of kilometres away.

In 1953, the United Nation's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) remedied this problem by using short, easily remembered names. Only female names were used at first, but by 1979, both female and male names were used to identify storms in the Northern Pacific and the Atlantic basin.

Today, the WMO maintains a strict procedure for naming storms. The names, which are chosen by an international committee of the WMO, are specific to the Pacific or Atlantic oceans, and they run in alphabetical order from A to W (Atlantic) and A to Z (Pacific). For both Atlantic and Pacific storms, a list of male and female names are used on a six-year rotation. Should more than 21 tropical storms appear in one season, addition storms are named after the Greek alphabet (such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma and so on).

The six-year Atlantic naming schedule. (Image: NOAA)

The six-year Pacific naming schedule. (Image: NOAA)

Tropical storm Don was the fourth named Atlantic storm of 2017, the prior three being Arlene, Bret and Cindy. Following Don we can expect Emily, Franklin and Gert. In the Pacific, we've already had tropical storm Greg, and the next one will be Hilary (this system, currently known as Tropical Depression Eight-E, hasn't yet graduated to tropical storm status). Because these names are created well in advance, we know, for example, that the eighth tropical storm to appear in the Atlantic basin in 2022 will be named Hermine.

Sometimes, a tropical storm or hurricane will be so deadly that the name will be retired for all time. Recent examples include Matthew, Erika and Sandy. When that happens, a new name is added to the six-year rotation.

So who knows, perhaps someday a hurricane Don or Hilary will wreak havoc in the US, and we'll never have to suffer through a storm with that name ever again.

WATCH MORE: Science & Health News

Trending Stories Right Now

Video. Pretty much anything can be improved by adding Jeff Goldblum, but Taika Waititi's Thor. Ragnarok really used the actor to his fullest potential. Marvel has been releasing a few of their bonus clips from the upcoming Blu-ray release, and with them we get to see Goldblum at his... Goldblum-iest.

Why bother with Unity, Unreal or even Game Maker, when you can fire up Excel and whip up a game made up of formulas? Sure, you're spending sanity instead of money, but being sound of mind is overrated! Now, stare into this void of green with me... and see what stares back at you.